1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to an air cavity vessel having longitudinal and transverse partitions and, more particularly, to an air cavity vessel having longitudinal and transverse partitions, in which the longitudinal and transverse partitions are formed on a flat bottom area in a grid pattern, and spatial areas defined by the longitudinal and transverse partitions are supplied with air so as to form multiple air layers on a small scale.
2. Description of the Related Art
A well-known type of air cavity vessels employs technology that reduces the resistance to water by i.e. injecting air into a flat bottom area to thereby form air layers and reduce a submerged surface area of the hull.
One of such air cavity vessels is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,595,191, in which a bottom of a hull of a seagoing vessel such as an oil tanker is provided with a plurality of downward open type air cavities. Thereby, the submerged surface area of the hull is reduced, so that hydrodynamic characteristics such as resistance to water are improved.
Further, Netherlands Patent No. 9301476 discloses a vessel in which air cavities into which air is injected are formed in a bottom area of the hull. Due to a decrease in the friction between an air layer in the cavity and water passing through the hull, the resistance to water is reduced, so that the consumption of fuel is cut back on to permit more economical propulsion.
However, these known vessels can be used only for flat water. In detail, since air leaks out of the downward open type air cavity when the vessel is rocked and tossed while sailing, the air cavity fails to properly exert its function, and causes the high resistance of the vessel to increase the consumption of fuel, so that the vessel is uneconomically propelled.
Meanwhile, the vessel is propelled by the propeller that is located underwater. The propeller is adversely affected by air arriving from the cavity. This reduces a lift force of propeller blades to make a thrust force and torque unstable or eliminate a thrust force.
To solve such a problem in the conventional air cavity vessel, PCT/NL2007/050242 discloses another air cavity vessel, which includes a hull that has a stern, bow and bottom, an air cavity that is formed at the bottom of the hull and includes a cavity top surface, a front wall, and a front section located nearest to the bow, and an air inlet that is located in the air cavity. Here, the vessel includes a wave deflector defining a lower surface which is situated in the front section of the air cavity and at a distance from the cavity top surface and extends from the front wall substantially in the direction of the stern. In the air cavity vessel, the wave deflector should be separately installed, and thus has an influence on the overall design structure of the entire vessel.